The so-called Iberian sardine, Sardina pilchardus, is appreciated for its texture and flavour.

Environmental organizations call for Iberian sardine recovery plan

SPAIN
Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

Several Spanish environmental organizations have joined their Portuguese counterparts to demand respect for the scientific recommendations for the fishery closure and request the approval of a recovery plan for Iberian sardines.

On July 13, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) published its scientific recommendation on the fishing of Iberian sardines for 2019, in which it recommends a zero catch for next year due to the critical stock state.

Given the scientific evidence confirming the alarming situation of the Iberian sardine, with population levels at historic lows since 2012, the Spanish organizations Ecologists in Action, Ent Foundation, Greenpeace, Oceana and WWF Spain, have joined the proposals made by Portuguese conservationist organisations PONG-Pesca, Sciaena, OMA, APECE, SPEA, Geota, LPN, ANP/WWF and Quercus, and have made public a common position in which they raise five points:

1. ICES, the main scientific institution that advises the EU on fisheries matters, and the institutions that contribute to its work, deserve full confidence. It is considered essential to favour the best possible conditions to develop their work.
    
2. The maintenance of the zero catch recommendation is due to a simple fact: despite the increase in biomass recorded in the most recent scientific surveys, the stock continues at dangerously lower levels than those that guarantee its viability from the biological point of view and from a sustainable exploitation of the resource.
    
3. At this time, Iberian sardine fishing does not have a management or recovery plan in force endorsed by the ICES as precautionary. What exists is an agreement between the governments of the two countries on a recovery plan that has received criticism from different organizations, mainly due to the lack of importance given to the control of catches over several years and to juvenile protection.
    
4. The adoption of a management plan endorsed by ICES to ensure a rapid recovery of the sardine population would be the only possible alternative to the closure of the fishery. This plan should include very precautionary catch levels (if possible to identify), due to the critical state of the population, along with conservation and control measures.
    
5. The signatory organizations urge the governments of Spain and Portugal as well as the European Commission to submit a recovery plan as soon as possible to the ICES evaluation. This plan must have sufficiently consolidated elements and measures to adapt to the criteria established by the ICES and the management objectives of the common fisheries policy.

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